I ordered the battery cables from Inoovative Wiring. I'll pick up a Vette starter soon. I was offered a deal on a 3200-3500 TC from Mike R. Gonna pick it up Sunday. It seems like a bit much for my current setup. Unless I end up with a better cam, 1.6rr, springs, head work, and 3.73 gears I might just leave it out for now. How adversely will a stall like that affect the drive ability of a basically stock engine setup? I also need 2 245/45/17 tires :/

I wouldn't put the stall in until you get gears. The two will make the car feel a whole lot lighter.

Normally I'd probably say the same thing, but the trans is already pulled back.

Good point

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Tue Mar 10, 2015 9:31 pm

The 2 tires I ordered should be here tomorrow. Gary's battery cables should be here this week as well. Have a bad water leak in a heating pipe in my basement. Might have to hold off on purchasing any further parts for a bit.

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:32 pm

I'm bored at work so I compiled a list of mod type things I've done so far.

•Flowmaster American Thunder car back with H pipe, 50 series mufflers, and polished tips

Other drivetrain:

•Trans replaced with another used 96 out of a B4U in 2010•Rear end rebuilt with posi unit but retained 3.08 gears 2009

Misc parts and pieces replaced new or from junk yard.

I'll add stuff as I go and when I remember things I forgot.

Last edited by MASShole9C1 on Mon Mar 30, 2015 7:43 pm; edited 1 time in total

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Thu Mar 19, 2015 1:41 pm

Got the new battery cables in the mail. Very stiff and very heavy duty. Gonna have to leave em out in the sun a bit before installation.

802

Posts : 33Join date : 2015-03-16Age : 54Location : Burlington Vermont

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:25 am

MASShole9C1 wrote:

Got the new battery cables in the mail. Very stiff and very heavy duty. Gonna have to leave em out in the sun a bit before installation.

I don't know that the sun will help much. I did mine in the summer heat, after they lay loose for weeks waiting for my lazy arse to install them.They're stout, makes the OE cables seem like dental floss. Fitting that into the original routing, bending them just so, and twisting them to hook to the appliances was a challenge,But I guess that's the point. Heavy infrastructure. They may be a bit overbuilt, but what a feeling of accomplishment from such a simple mod, and confident at least that corner of my car can support any electrical decision I make elsewhere.

By the way, I tried reading your build thread. It is a lot to follow. Very impressive.

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 20, 2015 1:17 pm

Thanks for the heads up. I installed his 2 relay headlight harness a couple years ago. Wasn't much of a challenge. But, since these are going in more confined spaces, I figure the sun will make some difference in flexibility.

I've owned the car since May 2009, drove it all the way from Southern California to here, months later. A lot has happened in that time. Upgrades, broken parts, a little custom stuff here and there. Thanks for visiting and reading my thread tho.

802

Posts : 33Join date : 2015-03-16Age : 54Location : Burlington Vermont

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:22 pm

The confined space is a challenge, given the girth and stiffness of the bigger wires; but the miracles I see you've worked on this car already, it'll be a minor inconvenience for you. My advice is to keep the concept in mind even as you remove the old wires, and not commit to fastening anything too tight until you have it all routed, that gives you some slack when flexing it through the next space, or twisting to the next connection. A couple of "WTF!'s" under your breath, and it'll go.

The headlight harness is on my mind for this summer. I have to do something about those damned headlights, but am not ready yet to decide on changing the cars appearance. Like I said, I consider this stuff "Infrastructure" which will empower me to make future choices.

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:12 pm

Headlight harness was easy enough. Had to remove the 2 extra Cadillac horns that complete the 4 notes, to mount the relays. Wasn't happy about that. I still have to find another place to mount them.

802

Posts : 33Join date : 2015-03-16Age : 54Location : Burlington Vermont

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:26 pm

Bummer,That big ground cable connects in that region as well. It's getting crowded up there.I think I may have grounded to a different hole, to avoid the horns or take some bend out of that cable, but I can't remember exactly, and it is too dark and cold to go look right now.A couple guys on the Longroof forum have ideas for alternative mountings for either the horns or the relays, but I can't make sense of their explanations without having the pieces to look at (and again, cold and dark), and I haven't found any clear claims of total success.I'll be curious how you solve that, as I'm sure you'll be long past this project before I even get my hood open

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:36 pm

Doubtful. I'm sure you'll have your hood open before I get the trans mounted back up. I pay no mind to the car in the winter months since it's dry docked. Only thing I do, is buy parts for spring/summer. I can think of several places to relocate all 4 horns. It's not rocket science. A drill and some wiring=over it.

I completely agree on the front passenger side battery area being severely crowded now, with much thanks to the headlight harness. I considered relocating the battery to the trunk. I still should. I could order that set of cables, and put these new ones in my '88 Caprice swap. But, that's all talk and brainstorm at the moment.

I don't go over to the longroof side, since I've never owned one. But, I'll be sure to post pics and details for the horns once I have it all worked out. This is good. You've got me turning the "mod" gears some more, but adding to my list of to do's.

802

Posts : 33Join date : 2015-03-16Age : 54Location : Burlington Vermont

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:53 pm

I've had the same thoughts about the battery move, or even an aux battery in the back, since the wagon has so much space available back there, and I can use it for camping or remote construction or communication projects.There's other things I should delete from the front to make room.But my project isn't nearly that far along. Still doing basic maint. and infrastructure (and moving at a much slower pace).But thinking about it is something to do when it is too cold to turn wrenches (and the basketball games aren't very exciting).

I am cluttering up your thread, which is long enough on it's own. I'll stop now.

Still in limbo. Still not back together. Have a friend who says he's gonna trailer it to his garage and take out the last flexplate bolt and reassemble everything.

I tried swapping the upper door panels. GM made it very hard to take the panels apart so that you can reuse them, but made it easy enough for them to crack...

Somehow the car managed to acquire a dent in the passenger fender. I found the rear passenger shock dented too.

I mentioned it previously that the Buick had borrowed the 17s from the 9C1 and one got bent soon after Chris mounted my new tires. BOTH front 17s ended up bent. I'm pretty bummed. Those wheels kinda made the 9C1, ya know?

The bbk headers that I coated and wrapped are not compatible with the stock cats. Bbk has a 2 bolt flange and the stock cats have a 3 bolt flange.

The car needs new plug wires, a battery, and new rotors and pads.

I keep meaning to get the SS rear end prepped and ready for the swap. Can't find the motivation.

*A while back I also ordered NOS chrome bumper trim for the rear. The front rim on the bumper I got from Tim is in good shape. I figured with those wheels and the chrome bumper trim, the car would look nice. We shall see.

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:20 pm

MalibuSSwagon

Posts : 576Join date : 2013-06-17Age : 32Location : Weare, NH

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:48 pm

oh snap!

Matt Trakker

Posts : 5075Join date : 2009-07-30Age : 35Location : Reading, MA

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:59 pm

How'd ya do it?

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:26 pm

ROCKET APPLIANCES!

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:58 pm

A good friend of mine came over and used his Bolt Buster tool on that last bolt. Best $500 you can spend on a tool. Unless it's air tools or a welder.

You can sorta see how badly the flexplate was cracked, to begin with. I bought all new bolts for the flexplate and bellhousing. Gonna clean up the mounting surface of the crank and get the new flexplate bolted up and torqued down, loctite and all. Have a manifold flange stud snapped in half too. Once it's back together and running, I'm gonna get these BBK headers no one wants, installed.

Got other plans too, but not until the above mentioned is done. Not even gonna think about it.

MalibuSSwagon

Posts : 576Join date : 2013-06-17Age : 32Location : Weare, NH

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:08 am

Get it done for the roundup!

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:05 pm

MalibuSSwagon wrote:

Get it done for the roundup!

It's on a Saturday. Not going.

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Thu Oct 01, 2015 8:51 pm

FINALLY found a factory radio delete panel. The car IS a UL5 optioned (or unoptioned) 9C1, which I think is kinda cool and goes well with the crank windows. When I got it there was a crappy factory broken tape deck with no knobs, so I installed a remote Kenwood deck with USB and all that. Nothing fancy.

I've seen many Facebook posts of Impalas and Caprices alike getting broken in to for the stereo and the thieves almost ALWAYS pry open and crack the lower dash and glove box. Upper and lower dash parts are not any cheaper/easier to find today. It doesn't seem to matter what type of stereo is in the car. $200 deck from best buy, big $ double DIN, pop out TV screens, whatever. They're being stolen. What's the point? Will mine get stolen? Probably not. But I do like the delete panel look.

I've been putting together an idea for an alternative mounting place for the deck so that it's still accessible and can still use a hidden USB cable. It's not going to be overnight. Car still doesn't run, but I couldn't pass up the chance to get this part this time around. I looked up the part # online and they used to be $7-$8 new. I paid more than that, but I'm happy.

Last edited by MASShole9C1 on Tue Nov 10, 2015 9:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

Up and running after too long. Sounds good with nothing after the exh manifolds. Having my H pipe welded up. Need to install cats, replace a broken flange stud, and should be in business. Corvette starter does sound "cooler" than the stock one.

Now that the car runs and drives under its own power again, once the warmer weather hits, I'm bringing the car over to my friend/neighbors house so he can put new flanges that'll match the BBK headers. I need to finish wrapping them and order some locking studs for the install. Then the recently welded up H pipe will go back on.

MAYBE this year I can the SS rear in, that I got from Al (V8killer). Not sure what's better. Bring it to a shop already installed in the car, or bring it in before I install it. Hmmm.

The car needs rotors and pads. At least 2 rotors iirc have grooves in them.

So, hopefully this year I can drive it. Reg and ins still up to date. Just not the insp sticker, for obvious reasons.

I also located and purchased a matching blue leather rear RMS non limited seat. Cory (Mr. Buick) from Facebook and the big forum, got one for me in michigan a couple weeks ago. Looking forward to getting that shipped out soon.

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Mon Mar 28, 2016 4:41 pm

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Sat Apr 02, 2016 5:31 am

Bought enough wrap to finish the second header. Also ordered the Stage 8 locking bolts for the header install. Having a friend weld in the new flanges on the cats.

MASShole9C1

Posts : 4211Join date : 2009-12-16

Subject: Re: The SSheriff (1996 9C1) Sun Apr 24, 2016 2:59 am

Getting some momentum and hitting a wall.

I replaced the transmission shift shaft seal. I bought the fancy tools for the job. Smooth as silk to do.

I also picked up some 2 bolt flanges for the header instal. Doesn't look like it's getting done anytime soon since I'm having someone cut the cat flanges and weld these in. (The brick wall). I'd put the stock stuff back together but one of the manifold flange studs snapped in half and I'd need to get new 3 bolt gaskets. Money and time wasted just to end up doing the headers later on anyway.

Still looking to get rid of all these box body parts so I decided to use this 9C1 trunk mat from one of them. Fits ok. Had to do some cleaning first tho.

I bought a new battery for it so I don't have to keep borrowing the Buick's battery. I went ahead and cleaned under the hood the other day. The master cylinder was all rusty from sitting so I stripped and painted it a metallic color. Also bought new headlight bulbs for it. Apparently it didn't have any.

Parked it on the grass for a quick photo op while I cleaned up the old leaking trans fluid.